If Monday’s season opener is any indication, the Old North State League will bring plenty of excitement to the Sanford area this summer.
The Sanford Spinners, taking their name from a baseball team that represented the town in the past, began their 2021 season in the college summer league with a dramatic, walk-off 8-7 victory over the Fayetteville Chutes on Monday night at Tramway Park.
The Spinners (1-0) scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to stun Fayetteville, a team that had already played two ONSL games this season and won them both. On Monday, the Chutes (2-1) took the lead in the middle innings and Sanford faced a dire situation as it came down its final three outs in the ninth inning. The Spinners trailed 7-3, and Fayetteville pitcher Will Bryant had handcuffed the Sanford offense for five innings without so much as a single run.
The Chutes never made it to 27 outs. Sanford exploded for five runs in the bottom of the ninth and walked off with the victory with one out left to go.
Sanford outplayed the visitors everywhere but on the scoreboard for much of the night. The Spinners outhit Fayetteville 11-7 and also used a patient approach at the plate to work out 10 walks, but for much of the night, the team wasn’t getting the clutch hits. Sanford took a 2-1 lead with two runs in the second inning and made it 3-1 after three, but then started scuffling against Bryant, who took the mound in the fourth. Meanwhile, the Chutes scored one run in each of the next three innings to lead 4-3 after six, and then scored three more in the seventh to lead by four. Spinners pitcher Joey Cox stopped the bleeding in the eighth and ninth, but Sanford failed to close the gap in the eighth.
Spinners hitters Nick Fakouro, Mikey Scott and Grant Dowls all collected two hits in the game, with Dowls hitting a pair of doubles. Kaden Sigmon and Dowls each drove in two runs. Cox, who pitched the final two innings perfectly with four strikeouts, got the win.
The Old North State League is in its third season of existence as a summer league for college players to develop their skills during the collegiate off-season. Most ONSL players play for teams close to their homes. The Spinners are making their debut this season.
The Spinners will continue their season with a doubleheader today against the Swepsonville Sweepers (1-1) starting at 4 p.m.
